Social Democrats

A year after the election in Slovenia the two biggest rivals, the Freedom Movement and the Democrats (SDS), are neck-and-neck at the top of the polls. There is unprecedented polarisation, the ruling party's falling ratings show its honeymoon is over and the opposition is in a state of flux, pundits say.

Ljubljana, 23 October – Anže Logar, the conservative former foreign minister, won 34% of the vote in Sunday’s presidential election in Slovenia and will face lawyer Nataša Pirc Musar in the 13 November run-off after she picked 27%. Being limited to two terms, incumbent Borut Pahor could not run again.

Ljubljana – MEP Milan Brglez (S&D/SD) has expressed the willingness to run for president, the junior coalition Social Democrats (SD) told the STA on Wednesday, expressing the wish that he be supported by the entire coalition. The SD presidency is expected to formally nominate him tomorrow afternoon.

Sweden's right wing looked set to oust Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson's left-wing bloc in Sunday's general election on strong gains by the far-right, clinging to a slim lead with 94 percent of electoral districts counted.

The right wing bloc was credited with a majority of 176 of 349 seats in parliament, with the left bloc trailing with 173.

Ljubljana – The Robert Golob government is entering autumn with the highest approval rating so far and the three coalition parties have made significant gains compared to last month, according to a poll released by POP TV.

Ljubljana – The ruling ordering opposition Democrats (SDS) head Janez Janša to pay EUR 10,000 in damages and apologise to the coalition Social Democrats (SD) for claiming the party operated from a “stolen Jewish villa” has become final.

Ljubljana – The National Assembly passed in 53:26 vote on Thursday changes to the act on RTV Slovenija with which the government would like to reduce what it sees as the influence of politics on the public broadcaster. The changes come after RTV journalists recently went on strike twice demanding editorial autonomy.

Ljubljana – The presidency of the junior coalition Social Democrats (SD) decided on Monday that the party will put forward its own candidate for the upcoming presidential election. The internal candidacy procedure will remain open until 15 July.

Ljubljana – Marta Kos, vice-president of the Freedom Movement, has officially announced her bid for the presidency of the republic. She will run as her party’s candidate, while the other two coalition parties said following her announcement on Tuesday that they would likely run with candidates of their own.

Ljubljana – The ruling Freedom Movement is staying in the lead, polling at 33% in the June Vox Populi opinion poll commissioned by the newspapers Dnevnik and Večer. For the first time in two years, the work of the government is viewed as successful, although almost half of respondents remain undecided.